1. An excessive apprehension of skin infestation by mites or ticks: A person who is abnormally alarmed about getting head lice can be identified as suffering from acarophobia.
2. Fear of small objects, such as insects, worms, mites, and non-living things like needles and pins: Some people are so afraid of insects and mites that they seal off their windows, vacuum and sweep several times a day, and feel anxious outside their "cleansed" homes or apartments.

A genus of minute spider-like insects, including the cheese-mite and its congeners [members of the same kind or group]; a mite: "Acari are often ectoparasitic, causing itching, mange, and other skin diseases."